To each her own
by Hayley Alice
Summary: Involving both the "Dracul Story arch" of the third stage Musicals and the Stars season, this piece takes place in the episode where Michiru asks Taiki for "help" in unbuttoning her dress. Instead of entering the room, however, Haruka leaves to the street


Title: "To each her own." Rating: PG-13 Author: Shine de Praesortyum Author's Note: This combines the Sera Myu third stage musicals (the "Dracul" story arc) and the Sailor Moon anime.  
  
"Would you like to help me unzip my dress?" The words, spoken suggestively, could be heard leaving Michiru's lips on the opposite side of the dressing room door. There was another voice, a male who responded but Haruka could not make out what he said or who he was.  
Haruka sighed stiffly and turned to walk in the other direction, leading out of the building, "Whore," she cursed under her breath.  
It was a relatively common scene in her life, Michiru flirting just enough that Haruka would notice and become jealous. Perhaps Michiru was merely trying to keep Haruka on her toes or perhaps she was just unsatisfied. No matter, Haruka didn't really care that much.  
The tall blonde exited the theatre building still cloaked in her performance wear and allowed the rain to wash away all invisible traces of grime and regret. Stuffing her hands into her pockets, she watched the busy occupants of Tokyo nightlife moving from crowded club to crowded club.  
Painful tears were streaming deliberately down her cheeks by the time Haruka was able to turn a corner barely out of view of the concert hall. Joining a crowd to cross the busy urban street, Haruka chanced to see a pair of reddish glowing eyes glinting knowingly from the throng of people.  
Haruka turned, hoping to distinguish the eyes, but to no avail. The owner of the piercing stare had vanished into nighttime Tokyo. Sighing, Haruka made her way towards the Go-Go Lounge, only a few blocks away. It was her second home; the Sapporo she threw back in a fit of melancholy, her second lover. * * *  
"Fuck," Haruka muttered simply as she swirled the amber liquid in her fourth pint of Sapporo Extra Dry. She thought she could hear people discussing her, yet it all faded into the crowd of flashing lights and the blaring stereo belching out the latest American imports.  
Sound waves drifting through the air seemed to beckon people to search out a partner and move to bathe in the hot caresses of infinitely changing coloured lights around Haruka. She felt the pull as well and dreamed of having Michiru in her arms, rather than the cold alcohol clutched in her fist.  
As if by a divine proclamation, or perhaps just a rogue angel's joke, two slender fingers tapped Haruka's shoulder gently. Haruka craned her neck around to tell the person off, scream some obscenity but upon meeting their eyes all of her insults were left at the tip of her tongue, like a soldier killed just before firing. The person's or rather, woman's eyes were the same eyes that had glared at Haruka from the crowded street. She knew the woman's face well, but could not categorize it with a name in her mind.  
"Long time no see, Haruka-Chan."  
Haruka gulped back the last of her draft and glared menacingly at the newcomer, "Do I know you?"  
The woman, almost as tall as Haruka, invited herself to sit down beside the pianist on a barstool. She smiled like a child with a hidden secret and leaned closer to the younger woman, "You don't remember?"  
Suddenly, an intense wave of nausea stuck Haruka as a blur of images raced through her head at top speed. She was feeling as though her body and soul were draining away into nothing at all and that followed by a sudden sense of liberty, of all of her chains being discarded into the past. A certain. Disregard for humanity.  
"Who the hell are you!?" Haruka stood up, shaking the images from her mind, and backing away from the imposing figure before her.  
"Who. The. Hell. Am. I," The woman repeated the question, worrying her forehead. "Who. The. Hell. Am. I."  
Haruka stared at the woman for a long time, fear building up in her chest. Finally, the mystery woman sighed and spoke again, "Hmm," She grunted, "You're no fun at all, not like the last time we met."  
Haruka smiled delicately, deciding that if she had anything to lose it was only her life, so she may as well play along with the game. She sat back at her barstool and crossed her legs at the knees, "Oh, really? I'm sorry, and when was the last time we met?"  
"The last time we met," The woman spoke to herself with a thoughtful expression, "Oh, the last time we met was when I showed you what it really meant to be free."  
"And what, exactly, does it mean 'to be free.'?" Haruka inquired, a smirk pulling at her lips.  
"Oh, you know.," The woman flashed a pair of pearly fangs that shone red in the ongoing strobe-light of the dance floor, "Just, not having to care about. Oh say, anything at all."  
The tall senshi swallowed, a familiar feeling of loathing rising up in her body at the unexpected show of inhuman nature. She had to catch herself before she ran berserk out of the club, "And um," Haruka swallowed again, wishing more than anything for another drink, "H-how exactly did you show me that?"  
The woman leaned down to Haruka, who inhaled sharply at the intrusion, grazing her fangs across the younger woman's throat, "Like this."  
Haruka froze. It was an uncalled-for invasion of her privacy and it brought back a flood of old information to the front of her mind, "Dracul," She spoke the name softly, just off the tip of her tongue.  
"That's right," Dracul leaned back away from Haruka, a taunting grin plastered across her face, "Such a good little girl."  
"Oh my god. Oh-oh Christ.," Haruka sat completely still, at an absolute loss of words, "Oh."  
The older woman threw her head back and laughed loudly, "Would you like to take the subway over near my place so we can discuss the whole thing?" She asked, appearing completely sincere for the first time in her life.  
"Discuss.," Haruka sounded out the word on her lethargic tongue. Her eyes widened, "Discuss what thing...?"  
Dracul smiled, "Oh, I don't know. Me, you; Senshi, Transylvania; whatever you want."  
Haruka looked up, her eyes still wide with a mix of shock and curiosity. She had made her decision and it was just time to live, "I want to be free. Let's discuss that." She stated matter-of-factly. * * *  
Dracul's apartment was in a decently-sized building overlooking Tokyo Harbour just outside of the city. The stars shone brightly in their sheets of indigo, barely out of reach of the blanket of urban smog, however still separate from the fetid aroma of the suburban rice patties crowding the country outside of Tokyo. The way Haruka looked at this situation was that this area was the perfect place to make one's home, far ahead of her home in downtown Tokyo near the theatre district.  
Upon entering the spacious abode Haruka was struck with an undying fit of melancholy as an enormous window showing the bay and adjourning sky with unmistakable beauty confronted her. Dracul joined her, smiling ruefully, and pointed to the top of the window where Uranus and Neptune could be seen nestled in a bed of stars. Haruka shook her head and looked back down to the older woman.  
"I don't want to think about them." Haruka stated simply, indicating the twinkling heavens above.  
The vampire smiled understandingly and reached out to hold Haruka's frail hands in her own ice-cold ones. Together they spun a long thread of silence between the two, before Haruka finally cut the string with a pleading voice tainted with regretful fear, "I want you to show me."  
"Tell me what it is you want to see." Dracul whispered gently, her lips mere inches from Haruka's pale face.  
A tear rode its path down Haruka's cheek and dripped onto her black sports jacket. She looked down to the floor for a moment as though in contemplation, and then raised her head once more. "Freedom." She responded hoarsely.  
Dracul slowly closed the space between them, silently kissing away the streak of saline with parched lips and wound her arms around Haruka. Just as the tender angel of death walking beside Saturn, Dracul tilted Haruka's head to the side with as much force as that of a mother cat coaxing her kittens to feed. Pulsing with life-giving blood barely underneath a sheath of white skin was the elixir which Dracul sought so desperately; Haruka's jugular.  
Tiny fangs punctured the vein in a manner that began at a pin-point and gradually grew larger until a flow of fresh blood ran out strait from Haruka's throat. Dracul pulled her canines out and began to suck smoothly on the wound, the warm flavour of blood filling her mouth and throat she drank it down with relish. Dracul pulled Haruka still closer, crushing the princess' body against her own and drowning in the ecstasy of sharing this chalice of life with another.  
"Ichi. Ni. San." Haruka groaned the ticking seconds, rubbing her hands up Dracul's back across the soft velour of her violet dress coat.  
And it happened.  
And for the first time in many years, she felt right at home.  
It was the exact same feeling of detachment, disfiguring humanity, tainting this holy. No, it was already corrupt. There was nothing left to taint and Haruka finally understood, and Haruka finally held the blatant disregard for humanity in the palm of her hand. It all had a mind-blowing effect, an earth-shattering understanding of the world, of religion and life; everything made absolute sense. Universal understanding. * * *  
Dracul could see everything flashing before her eyes from the destruction of the Moon Kingdom with full-force. She could hear the plea of the child Princess Saturn from her castle where she died a gruesome death at the hands of Beryl's soldiers, the screams of Neptune, and lastly the power of Selene's sacrifice as the universe pulled sideways, destruction taking over. However, someone was beside her the entire time begging for their own release. It was her own father, trapped in the dungeons of Miranda as all of the surrounding chaos took its toll. She then felt the pain of resurrection in Saturn, and the miserable need to reap the silence glaive over the Moon Kingdom for decimation. Dracula bled down like blood from a fresh wound with the others towards Earth, awake all the while and screaming for vengeance.  
Following all of this was the pain of awakening in Mugen Academy, and the need to fight beside a recent lover, Michiru, for the crystals that would bring them one step closer to freedom. It seemed the young princess' life was overflowing with anguish, the affliction of deceit and the immortal grip of death. In their embrace she felt an uncanny pity for Haruka, for now Haruka would suffer the undying fate of her own family and she would continue living beyond Saturn's next resurrection.  
Dracul pulled away, gasping for air and clutching Haruka close to her chest. "G-GOD!" She cried into Haruka's blonde hair.  
Haruka collapsed against Dracul, heaving roughly and slaving for each breath of air. Dracul lifted her into her arms and carried her across the apartment and into the bedroom, away from the confrontation of Uranus and her Castles above, where they tormented both Haruka and Dracul. The master bed was cozy and covered with onyx and forest-green coloured throw pillows, preparing it for the comfort of the Uranian Princess.  
Groaning, Haruka sat up from the pillows almost instantly and clutched Dracul's shoulders. Dracul's eyes widened drastically. "Is it true?" Haruka choked as she pulled herself up to Dracul's face. "Is it the truth?"  
Dracul thoughtlessly removed Haruka's hands from her shoulders and laid the woman back on the bed. "Calm down, Princess. What you saw is the godforsaken reality." She tried to forget the abhorrence that confronted herself and sat at the foot of the bed, removing her shoes.  
"Christ." Haruka fell back to the bed, staring up at the ceiling blankly. "God, oh Christ. Endymion."  
Because she was turned away, Haruka did not notice the older woman changing to her bedclothes until she slid into the bed and gracefully wrapped her arms around Haruka. She turned to look at Dracul with great hollow eyes, her face drawn up with stress lines.  
"Oh god, hush now little Ouranos, the knowledge isn't so bad, I learned to live with the truth long ago!" Dracul leaned up to Haruka, placing her hand on the younger woman's chest.  
Haruka let out a strangled sound from the confines of her throat. "I never knew."  
Dracul reached out and held her close atop the duvet, digging her calloused fingers into Haruka's silken locks. "Nobody did, knowledge can be the power we gain or the price we pay."  
Haruka cried softly into Dracul's bosom for a moment longer before sniffling and eyeing the vampire sadly. "Is it ever not a terrible price, can it ever just be good?"  
"That, I'm afraid is not possible. For everything can be seen a million ways, negative or positive." Dracul's eyes glazed over leaving her looking much like a puppet as she stared against the plain off-white wall before her.  
The younger woman of the pair tried to process this new information, yet it all became muddled when she placed it next to what she had already learnt. A plaguing sense of insecurity overwhelmed her and she began to cry against Dracul once again, shuddering with each raking gasp from her parched throat. Unsure of her own abilities, Dracul began to make soothing motions with her hands across the Princess' back and cooed soft nonsense to her. Soon enough the torrent of bittersweet tears slowed and the choked sobs ceased altogether. Haruka reached up and placed one hand gently on Dracul's shoulder, speaking no words.  
"Do you feel the power of it?" the older woman tilted Haruka's chin up to meet her eyes.  
Haruka frowned in thought, her eyes glinting invisibly for a brief moment. "I think. I feel."  
She couldn't form the words; they were trapped on the tip of her tongue somewhere hidden away with a profession of koi. Haruka remained silent for a long moment, drowning in Dracul's brazil-coloured eyes. It was Dracul who made the initial move, leaning forward for a light touch of her moist lips to Haruka's own. Out of her own volition, Haruka leaned closer to the older vampire, reveling in the electricity shooting between them. Dracul leaned in for another kiss and this time Haruka met her half way. They repeated the cycle for what could have been hours into the night, neither deepening the passion.  
"You know." Dracul mumbled between a kiss, "They used to say that a kiss," another kiss was shared between the two, "was the ultimate passageway to," kiss, "hell."  
Haruka smiled against Dracul's lips, nuzzling their noses together. "Is this how your 'pillow talk' usually goes?"  
Dracul kissed her swiftly before responding. "No, really!" She leaned down for another kiss, "Somebody told me that..." Dracul paused and stared off into the confines of her bedroom. ". At some point."  
Haruka smiled to herself. "It sounds like you've been talking to Hotaru-kun."  
Dracul sighed at the image and made a slight smile to cover her discomfort. "Maybe I have been." She taunted playfully.  
"Oh god! You and Berserk." Haruka paused as Dracul frozen eyes glazed over. "Shit. Sorry, bad subject."  
"I-ie. It's just. Hmpf, well I guess I'll never really forgive Berserk for the things he did. I. I don't know." Dracul smiled half- heartedly.  
"Mm, we all have our grudges." The soldier of wind mumbled under her breath.  
Dracul looked up, sighed, and looked back to the woman before her. "What will you do?"  
"About what.?" Haruka spoke with no intonation. This wasn't the direction she wanted, pretend, just pretend that you don't understand, she thought. She didn't want to think about Michiru, because then her conscience would kick in, and she would know that what she was doing was wrong, so very wrong indeed.  
"Look, I can't do this." Dracul slid out of the bed and stood up, the dim light from the bedside lamp illuminating her sallow, sparsely clothed figure.  
"What?" Haruka sat up, her long suit coat pooling around her body oddly. "-Why?"  
"You're intoxicated, Haruka-san."  
"I most certainly am not!"  
"How many of those damned beers did you drink at the bar?"  
"I-." Haruka froze. She couldn't remember. It seemed like one melted into another and another. The bartender just kept on handing them to her. "That has nothing to do with anything!" She mumbled.  
"It has everything to do with this. You belong to Michiru-san." Dracul sighed in a manner that made her seem completely human.  
Haruka's pale cheeks reddened. "I belong to no one!" She shouted fiercely.  
"What have I done?" Dracul began to sob softly, her back facing Haruka.  
"You've done brilliantly, Dracul-sama! I'm seeing with new eyes. I-."  
"-You don't understand the situation!  
"Nani-ka?"  
"Just go home." Dracul choked out. "Leave, get back to the one you love."  
"But." Haruka stood up and embraced the older woman. "I love you."  
"Like I said, you're drunk, Haruka-san."  
"No!" Haruka grabbed Dracul's face harshly and pressed her lips against hers. What am I doing.? She thought. Is this really me? But in that same instant it no longer mattered at all, Michiru was with Taiki, and so Haruka would be with Dracul. It was only natural. But did Michiru-chan feel the same way about Dracul-Hakushaku? Well, might as well follow nature.  
Dracul pushed Haruka away harshly, grimacing with pain. "Sometimes, we can't listen to our hearts, bodies, or minds, Haruka-san."  
"Nan-desu-ka?" She blinked furtively at the elder vampire.  
"Often we must listen to our hearts, other times we must ignore them and focus on our minds, and still other times it is best to listen only to our bodies. However, there are very rare times when none of those forms can be trusted, even our own."  
"If can can't trust ourselves, what can we trust?"  
"The truth."  
"What is the truth in this world, haven't we already learned all there is to know?"  
"Does anyone know everything?"  
"We do."  
"Do you?"  
"Of--." Haruka paused. "I thought you opened the world to me."  
"Even I don't know everything." Dracul shrugged nonchalantly.  
"What is the truth?" Haruka persisted.  
"That. You're blasted." Dracul laughed falsely and leaned away from Haruka.  
"You're skirting the question."  
  
"Am I?"  
"Yes!"  
"Fine. You want the truth?"  
"It's all I ever wanted." Haruka muttered sarcastically.  
"There's no such thing as trust."  
"Oh, thanks. You cleared up all of the confusion. Now I can go on, living my life like a normal-."  
"You're not listening!" Dracul cut Haruka off. "You know one thing, but you lack in the ability to put two and two together. Where's your fighting spirit, Haruka?"  
"Ask yourself the same question."  
"When you asked Selene, who did she say you would marry?"  
"WHAT!?" Haruka jumped, visibly shaken by the seemingly random question.  
"When you were twelve years old and still living as part of the Moon Kingdom, you asked Queen Selene a very important question; I just want to know the answer." Dracul smiled sweetly to Haruka.  
She stopped and stared into the garnet eyes of the woman before her. Frowning, Haruka opened her mouth. "She said I would marry Princess Neptune."  
Dracul stood up off of the bed and wrapped a cotton yukata around her night gown. "You've found the truth: Now listen to some serious advice."  
"What the hell are you talking about?"  
"I mean, you were hurt today, ne?"  
"Of course. She cheated on me."  
"You jumped to conclusions, and now she hurts as much as you."  
"So what in the hell do you suggest I do?"  
"Go to her." Solemnly, Dracul walked through the bedroom door and straight out of the apartment.  
Haruka jumped up to chase after her, but the woman had vanished, he ruby hair swirling past the doorframe. Go to her. Dracul's words rang through Haruka's mind. As she left the apartment, she noted how the whole place seemed to have abruptly grown unbearably cold to the touch. Speeding herself up, Haruka made her way out of the building and down the sidewalk towards the theatre district. Would Michiru still be there? She wondered hopelessly.  
Completely lost in her harried thoughts, Haruka didn't even notice as the building behind her began to slowly fade to its original state. As her long legs pushed her further towards the small district a few kilometers away the entire structure had reverted to a desolate, rotted, and defunct factory, complete with the sign "Aoi Productions" teetering precariously over the parking lot.  
  
~Owari~ 


End file.
